(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk apparatus having a disk loading mechanism in which a recording medium is held on a tray and the tray is movably supported such that the tray is movable between a disk-change position and a disk-loaded position.
(2) Description of the Related Art
There is known a CD-ROM drive in which a CD-ROM (compact disk read-only memory) is held on a tray and the tray is movably supported such that the tray is movable between a disk-change position and a disk-loaded position. In the CD-ROM drive, when the tray is moved to the disk-loaded position within the CD-ROM drive, a movable base having a turntable is moved up to clamp the CD-ROM on the tray, so that the CD-ROM is rotated on the turntable to read information from the CD-ROM.
FIG. 25 shows a conventional disk apparatus such as the above CD-ROM drive. As shown in FIG. 25, the conventional disk apparatus includes a tray 2, tray guide members 3, an optical pickup 4, a turntable 5, a movable base 6, and a chassis 10. A CD-ROM 1 (hereinafter called the disk 1) is placed on the tray 2. The tray 2 is guided by the tray guide members 3 when the tray 2 is inserted into or ejected from the chassis 10. The pickup 4 and the turntable 5 are supported on the movable base 6. The tray 2 is moved between a disk-change position and a disk-loaded position in one of an ejecting direction (indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 25) and an inserting direction (indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 25) by a tray moving mechanism 2a.
The movable base 6 is supported at its rear end by a leaf spring 7 and connected at its front end to a slider cam 8. The leaf spring 7 exerts an actuating force on the movable base 6 so as to lift the front end of the movable base 6. When the slider cam 8 slides in a lateral direction to release the front end of the movable base 6, the front end of the movable base 6 is lifted by the actuating force of the leaf spring 7, so that the disk 1 is clamped between the turntable 5 and a damper (not shown) by the movable base 6. In this condition, the disk 1 is rotated on the turntable 5 to read information from the disk 1.
In a case in which a disk apparatus is installed in its vertical position on a host computer, it is necessary that a disk holding member is provided to hold the disk 1 in the disk apparatus, installed in its vertical position, while preventing the disk 1 from loosely falling from the tray 2 or being inclined to the tray 2 before the disk 1 is held on the tray 2 at the disk-loaded position. As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 8-77673, a disk apparatus including a disk holding member for holding a disk in such a case is known.
In the conventional disk apparatus of FIG. 25, a disk holding member 9 having a pair of holding parts 9a is provided on the tray 2. A pair of projections 10a are provided on the chassis 10 at positions corresponding to positions of the holding parts 9a to the chassis 10 when the tray 2 is moved to the disk-loaded position in the inserting direction B. The holding parts 9a are rotatably supported on the tray 2 by using an actuating force of a spring (not shown), and movable in a vertical direction perpendicular to the surface of the disk 1. During the movement of the tray 2 between the disk-change position and the disk-loaded position in one of the ejecting direction A and the inserting direction B, the holding parts 9a are placed in horizontal conditions near the tray 2 where the disk 1 is held on the tray 2 by the holding parts 9a.
When the tray 2 is moved in the inserting direction B and reaches a position immediately preceding the disk-loaded position, the holding parts 9a are vertically rotated away from the tray 2 by the contact of the holding parts 9a with the projections 10a on the chassis 10. In this condition, the disk 1 is released from the disk holding member 9. As the front end of the movable base 6 on which the turntable 5 is provided is lifted by the actuating force of the leaf spring 7, the disk 1 is clamped between the turntable 5 and the clamper by the movable base 6. Therefore, even in the case in which the conventional disk apparatus of FIG. 25 is installed in its vertical position, the disk 1 is rotated on the turntable 5 to read information from the disk 1.
As the turntable 5 is lifted by the upward movement of the movable base 6, the disk 1 which is released from the disk holding member 9 is clamped between the turntable 5 and the damper on the tray 2. In the case in which the conventional disk apparatus of FIG. 25 is installed in the vertical position, the disk 1 in its vertical position is loaded in the disk apparatus and clamped in the above-described manner.
In the conventional disk apparatus of FIG. 25, the disk 1 is released from the disk holding member 9 when the tray 2 reaches the position immediately preceding the disk-loaded position, and then the disk 1 is clamped between the turntable 5 and the damper when the turntable 5 is lifted with the upward movement of the movable base 6. That is, the releasing action of the disk holding member 9 to release the disk 1 is started before the tray 2 reaches the disk-loaded position. When the tray 2 reaches the disk-loaded position, the clamping action to clamp the disk 1 between the turntable 5 and the damper is not yet complete. Hence, in the case of the vertical-position installation for the conventional disk apparatus of FIG. 25, the disk 1 in the disk apparatus placed in its vertical position may be inclined to the tray 2 before the disk 1 is clamped. If the disk 1 is inclined to the tray 2 before the disk 1 is clamped, it is likely that the disk 1 be improperly clamped between the turntable 5 and the clamper.
Further, in the conventional disk apparatus of FIG. 25, the disk holding member 9 holds the disk 1 by using the actuating force of the spring in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the disk 1. In order to stably hold the disk 1 by the disk holding member 9, it is necessary that the actuating force of the spring is relatively large. Hence, it is necessary for the conventional disk apparatus of FIG. 25 to use the disk holding member 9 with a spring having a relatively large actuating force, which makes the disk holding member 9 bulky.